Fruit and vegetables consumption and breast cancer risk: the EPIC Italy study.

25 January 2012

The role of fruit and vegetables on the development of breast cancer (BC) has long been debated. A wide variety of vegetables and fruit are consumed by Mediterranean populations, which is an enabling framework for evaluating the effects of these foods. The association between consumption of fruit and vegetables, overall or by varieties, and the risk of breast cancer has been studied in the Italian section of the European Prospective Investigation on Cancer (EPIC). Dietary information, lifestyle and anthropometric measurements of over 31 000 women aged 36-64, recruited from five Italian centers between 1993 and 1998 were analyzed. After a median follow up of 11.25 years, 1072 invasive and in situ incidents of breast cancer were identified. The results (adjusted for education, anthropometry, maternity, hormone replacement therapy, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking habits) have shown an inverse association between consumption of all vegetables and the risk of BC. In particular, an inverse association emerged from the increased consumption of leafy and fruiting vegetables (including raw tomatoes). However, no association between the consumption of fruit, overall or by variety, and risk of BC was found. In this Mediterranean population, the protective role of the consumption of vegetables (especially leafy & fruiting vegetables) on the BC is obvious.